No casino, but $1.6m for taxpayer gamble

Thursday, November 29, 2012 -- Anonymous (not verified)

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Thursday, November 29, 2012

Author(s):

Joe Battenfeld

The state’s plodding effort to launch casino gambling hasn’t stopped a state commission from burning through $1.6 million in taxpayer money on consultants, travel and credit card expenses, records show.

According to budget records, the state Gaming Commission, which is years away from even approving the first casino license, has already paid:

• $500,000 to two consultants developing a strategic plan for the state;

• $110,000 to outside media consultants;

• $47,000 in unknown credit card purchases, and

• $334,000 to one law firm.

The spending on consultants and other expenses doesn’t include what the state is paying to commission staff, and for the six-figure salaries of board members. That is expected to amount to several million dollars extra.

The spending binge to start up casino gambling comes as the state is mulling tax increases to cope with a budget crisis.

The gaming board isn’t even expected to start issuing casino licenses until 2014, and the opening of the state’s first casino won’t come until years later. And it’s unclear what exactly taxpayers are getting right now for their money.

The costs of running the commission are eventually supposed to be funded through casino license fees, but that may not happen for several more years. The question for taxpayers is whether spending millions now to launch a shaky industry that may eventually bring in millions more is even worth it.

Commission spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said the budget for the first year of operation is about $7 million, and “we anticipate running under budget.”

As for criticism that the state is moving too slowly and may be trumped by neighbors like New Hampshire, Driscoll said: “We are moving as quickly as we possibly can. It’s very complex and there are a lot of moving parts here.”

The $1.6 million in spending covers the roughly nine-month period since the commission started operations. Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby earns $150,000 a year, and four other board members were expected to get salaries of $115,000 a year.

Driscoll earns a $117,000 salary to handle communications, but in addition to that, the gaming board has also paid $56,000 to public relations consultant Karen Schwartzman for just a few months’ work.

The panel also paid another firm, Last Frontier Consulting, $55,000 for media-related expenses.

Other commission expenses, according to the state’s Open Checkbook website, include $5,800 for office expenses and $75,000 for recruiters.

The Herald has previously reported that three state gaming commissioners spent $10,000 on a junket to Las Vegas.

The deadline for casino operators to apply for three licenses is in mid-January, and the state is charging $400,000 for an application. Some of that will go to community mitigation, and the rest to help defray the costs of investigations, Driscoll said.